Valve-testing apparatus.



G W. MOORE.

VALVE TESTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION r1150 SEPT. 3. 1915.

Patented Apr. 25, 1916.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

GEORGE W. MOORE, QF SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI.

VALVE-TESTING APPARATUS.

Application filed September 3, 1915.

To all whom a, may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnome \V. MOORE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Springfield. in the county of Greene and State of Missouri,have invented new and useful Improvements in ValveTestinI Apparatus, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for testing safety valves, and hasparticular reference to devices prii'uarily adapted for testing valvesof tank cars.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple, cheap and etlicientapparatus whereon the valves may be tested and regulated in a simple,cheap and expeditious manner.

\Vith the above and other objects in view, the improvement resides inthe construction,

combination and arrangement of parts setv forth in the followingspecification and falling within the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawing: Figure 1 is a top plan view of the door of an ordirarytank car illustrating the application of my improvement, and Fig. 2 isan elevation of the improvement, parts being broken away and parts beingshown in section.

In tank cars safety valves must he. tested and adjusted within statedpc" :ls, and a record of such tests must he stcnciled upon the elbowwhich is arranged etween the valves and the tank dome. .lleretofoi'csuch tests are usually madc ol' cmupressed air or water. As all tankcars are of eight to ten thousand gallon capacity. air or water consum das well as time and lal or expended in the making of such tests will heapparent. As such tests cannot be made when the car is under load, it isnot infr quent that cars have been set back because the. proper tests ofthe valve was not made before the said car started on its journey. Inthe latter instance it is necessary to transfer the contents of the carto another car which has had its valves properly tested, and thus itwill he noted that quite an amount of time and la bor is consumed intransferriug:- of the load as Well as in running the car to and from thetransfer point.

It may therefore be considered the primary object of my invention toprovide means or apparatus whereby the valves of the tank cars may beproperly tested either when the car is empty or under load. I accomplishthis object by the apparatus disclosed in the accompanying drawings, and

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 25, 1916.

Serial No. 48,859.

in the said drawings the numeral 1 designates the dome of an ordinarytank car, which in the present instance has its manhole 2 shown as open.lhe safety .valves, two in number, are indicated by the numerals 3, thesame being provided with an elbow 4 which connnunicates with the tankdome 1. The valves 3 are provided with regulating; nuts 5.

With my improvement I provide an apparatus which may be readily insertedthrough the man hole 2 into the dome 1, the same including a pluralityof ren'iovable elements and including a head member ti having, its openmouth provided with a, gasket 7 which is adapted to be compressedagainst the mouth of the alved elbow in the dome 1. The hollow head 6has threadedly and centrally connected therewith a pipe. section 8,which in turn is threadedly secured to one of the arms of a crosscoupling 1 This coupling, through the medium of pipes and bushings hasconnected thereto a pressure gage l4), and the arm of toe crossdiametrically opposite that provided with the pipe 8 is closed by thethreaded end of a rod 11. The outer end of this rod is matured and isalso tl'n'eadcd, as at 12. and receives a threaded bore at one end of aturnluurkle 13. The threaded bore at the opposite end of the turnbuckle,which, it should be stated. has its threads arranged at a diil'erentangle or pitch from the threads receiving the end 12 of the rod 11, hasscrewed therein the threaded end 14 of a rod l3, the said rod having itsfree end 'oointcd. as at '16. Communicating with the arm of the crossdiametrically opposite that to which the pressure gage 10 is connectedis a casing .17 o an angle cook, the same being provided with anoperating handle 18, and an elbow coupling 19 connects the said rockwith an air hose coupler 20.

The operation of the de ice may be briefly dcscrihcd as follows: Thegasket 7 of the head 8 is, as previously stated. arranged at the elbowof the valves 3. The turnbuckle is adjusted so that the pointed end 16of the rod 15 will contact with the inner face of the dome diametricallyopposite the said head 6. An air pipe is connected with the air hosecoupler l3. and sutlicient air is permitted to enter the pipe sectionsof the device to revolve the hand of the gage until the same hasindicated a desired pressure, say twelve pounds. The nuts 5 of thevalves 3 are then adjusted so that the said valves will blow off under atwelve pound pressure. After'this is accomplished the device is removedthrough the manhole 2 of the dome, and the entire time, from actualtest, required in properly adjusting the valves to the desired amount ofpressure will not require more than fifteen minutes, so it will be n tedthat the cost of such test is greatly redu ed.

Having thus described the invention, What I claim is:

1. In an apparatus for testing the safety valves upon the domes of tankcars, a cross, longitudinally adjustable rods connected with the crossand closing one of the arms thereof, a pipe section arrangeddiametrically opposite the rods, a'hollow head for the pipe section, agasket for the hollow head, a gage connected with the cross, a cockconnected with the cross, and an air hose coupler connected with thecock.

2. An apparatus for testing safety valves upon domes of tank carscomprising a hollow head having a compressible gasket therein, a pipeconnected with the hollow head, an air gage for the pipe, a valve airinlet for the pipe, and a longitudinally adjustable rod member extendingfrom and disposed in a line with the pipe.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

GEORGE W. MOORE. \Vitnesses:

D. W. LILLEY, GABRIEL L, ALsUP.

